Usurper SYOC
by Snowshoer
Summary: Knowing his marriage will tear apart his family and further set him against the rightful heir, Prince Wyatt wants nothing more than to remain sequestered in his wing of the palace. Torn between his duty to his people and his loyalty to his family, can Wyatt choose a wife knowing his choice could ultimately mean the destruction of his family or the demise of his country? SYOC
1. Chapter 1

Introduction

Wyatt woke from his slumber to the giggles of his niece, Sophia, grinning and shaking him. When he turned his head to meet her eyes, she erupted into a fit of laughter and had to look away. "Oh Uncle Wyatt, your face is too funny," she boldly shared, pointing to his cheek. Half a sleep and still a bit groggy, he raised his hand to his face and felt a deep imprint carved into his skin. Without a mirror he couldn't make out exactly what the image was, but judging by the pillow his face was resting against, he had a strong inkling that it was a horse.

"Well now you know what I'd look like if I got a tattoo," Wyatt replied, patting the six year old on top of her head.

"Oh Uncle Wyatt," she pouted, fixing her disheveled hair back into its original form. "Mama made me sit for thirty minutes to get my hair done this morning," she complained, recalling the awfully boring time she'd spent having it done. Sophia always thought the most horrible part of her day was when she had to spend valuable playtime getting dressed and prepped in the morning. That, and also when her mother told her she had to go to sleep before anyone else in the palace during the evening.

Wyatt smiled at his niece's impatience and reassured her that she'd look fine no matter what state her hair was in. Of course she didn't believe him, but he tried making the effort nonetheless.

"Now Sophia, what brings you here so early in the morning?" Wyatt asked, knowing full well that she wasn't supposed to be in the Northern wing of the palace. Her mother always threw a fit when she did. Of course Wyatt understood why, but he still liked to see his niece every once in a while.

Sophia climbed onto his bed and plopped down before him. Curling her tiny index finger, she urged her uncle to lower his ear for her to whisper in. Complying, he leaned in and listened carefully to whatever secret she felt was so important. It was a big thing for her to come to her uncle's quarters and risk facing her mother's wrath, but Sophia felt that news of his upcoming Selection was well worth it.

"Mama has set the date," she said giddily, trying hard not to screech in his ear despite all her excitement.

"Set the date for what?" Wyatt teased. He could see the anticipation in his niece's eyes and couldn't help but joke around a little bit.

"For your Selection of course!" she squealed, leaping off the bed.

Wyatt smiled halfheartedly, hoping that Sophia's news was something other than that. Still, he made himself seem thrilled so as not to damper the young girl's cheerfulness. "Oh, my Selection. I almost forgot about that," he said, getting out of bed.

"Yep! Aren't you excited?" Sophia asked. Wyatt hesitated but nodded after seeing her chocolate eyes grow wide with wonder. He could only guess that she was imagining extravagant balls, lavish gowns, and pretty much everything he knew he was going to dread about his Selection. "Mama said that you're going to finally get married and then have lots of babies for me to play with!"

Wyatt chuckled momentarily at her innocence, but quickly frowned upon remembering what his Selection would mean for his cute little niece. With every expression of anticipation on Sophia's face, Wyatt felt guiltier and guiltier. How could he explain to her that his marriage would only tear their family further and further apart? To her the Selection meant parties and everything she dreamt about; but for him it meant strengthening his position while simultaneously eroding away her status as the next heir to the throne. Ever since his older brother had slipped into a coma five years ago with Sophia as his only heir, the council had been pressuring Wyatt to take the throne. With Sophia too young and her mother without any experience in court, it only made sense that the King's only sibling ascended the throne in his brother's stead. Wyatt disagreed for many reasons and had tried holding off the Selection as long as possible, but it seemed as if the council had finally pushed through.

Striding over to the window, Wyatt swept open the drapes in one fell swoop. The room was instantly illuminated. Both of them quickly sheltered their eyes from the bright morning sunlight flooding through the window. "I am excited," Wyatt told Sophia softly, "but matters of my heart are just that, my own."

Sophia frowned and crossed her arms in frustration. "But shouldn't I at least have some say?"

Wyatt cocked an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Because that lady is going to become my aunt! That makes your Selection my business," she suggested firmly, widening her stance as if that made her argument stronger.

Wyatt didn't respond immediately. Instead, he glanced out the window and into the royal gardens that his bedroom overlooked. They were beautiful and lush, full of thick rosebushes and carefully sculptured hedges. Large trees with imposing presences shaded the pond in the corner and the walking paths that wound wildly through the yard, dividing the perfectly trimmed grass into sections. Beds of flowers grew in almost every corner, dotting the landscape with bursts of bright colors. "Tell me, Sophia, what is your favorite part about being the Crown princess?" Wyatt asked haphazardly.

Sophia scrunched her nose. "What do you mean?" she wondered, confused as to why her uncle was asking such a strange question.

Wyatt didn't turn, his gaze kept firmly on the gardens below. "What do you want to do when you become the ruler of our country?" he said, trying to clarify what he was asking.

"That's easy," Sophia grinned. "I want to eat as much candy as I possibly can!"

Wyatt couldn't stop himself from laughing. It wasn't what he was looking for, but it did sort of answer what he was asking. "Good response," he replied, lifting the little girl high into the air and throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of flour. "Now, lets go downstairs and get some breakfast!"

xXxXx

There you have it! That is the introduction explaining a little bit about Prince Wyatt and the current dynamic within the royal family. Hopefully it will give you guys a little idea of my writing style and inspire you to submit a character.

I've written a few SYOC stories and have definitely come to realize a lot about my writing and what I need to do in order to complete them. Knowing my limits, I will only be accepting 5 girls. Feel free to submit as many as you want, but I am only going to take 5 Selection participants. The reason I do this is because I don't want to stretch myself too thin. I find it hard to stay focused and update regularly when I have to juggle so many characters. When I do, the quality of the chapters goes way down, I get stuck in the introductory phase, lose interest, and stop updating. So to avoid that, I have set the limit of girls at 5.

Other things to note are that Wyatt lives in a completely different kingdom than Maxon does and therefore is not related at all to him. This means that his Selection will run differently. Since the story is set in another kingdom, I will pick the provinces.

Anyway, please fill out the form on my profile to participate. I can't wait to see all your awesome characters!

I do have a couple of rules though, so please read them carefully before submitting an OC.

1 – Please submit your OCs through a PM. I do realize that guests will want to send in some OCs as well, but I find it way easier to contact people with questions when I can PM them. Also, please write in the title of your PM: OC form – your character's full name.

2 – No Mary Sues. Nobody in the world is perfect, meaning that everyone has their imperfections whether it be personality or appearance-wise. Please be mindful of this and try to create some dynamic but realistic characters. This will make my writing and this story a whole lot my interesting if the characters are diverse. Also, try to be consistent in the sense that someone can't be shy but then super talkative.

3 – Be detailed. Nothing turns me off submissions more than plain and generic characters.

4 – Review. I'm pretty sure all authors love hearing from their readers. So feel free to PM me with ideas for your character or any other things that may pop into your mind. I check my account every day and will definitely get back to you within a day or two. Also, long reviews always sway me into writing more about a character. So if you are dedicated and put in the time to leave me solid reviews, I will return the favor and write long parts for your characters. If there isn't a lot of interest, I may swap out some girls for others from people who are more dedicated.

That's it! Have fun and create lots!


	2. Chapter 2

\- Chapter 1 -

Much to Wyatt's dismay, the country had become tumultuous. Ever since the Queen had announced his Selection and the applications began rolling in, Wyatt found himself with very few moments of peace and quiet. During the morning he attended his usual meetings of state to discuss daily politics, and during the evening his time was fully occupied with matters of the Selection.

It was already close to midnight and yet the palace was still as busy as it was at noon. From his office on the main floor, Wyatt could clearly hear the commotion going on above him. Feet pounded back and forth through the corridors, raised voices bellowed commands, and the sound of power tools echoed through the halls. Camera crews from every news station in the country were setting up around the palace, each hoping to catch a glimpse of the Prince and his soon to be bride. Through it all, Wyatt sat quietly at his desk. Nestling his head comfortably in his arms, he leaned over the dark wooden surface of his mahogany desk and tried to rest.

"You don't look very much like a future King," a quiet voice scolded from across the room.

Wyatt lifted his head to see the Queen standing in the doorway, her arms crossed across her chest. "Amelia," Wyatt said softly, acknowledging her presence.

The Queen was already dressed in her white silk nightgown, her long auburn hair pulled up loosely into a bun, and her face free of any traces of makeup from early on in the day. Meanwhile, Wyatt sat in his crumpled suit with his hair in tangles. He could have sworn he also smelt of fresh manure after having played in the garden with Sophia before her bedtime. Looking at the two of them, they couldn't have looked any more different despite both being royalty.

"How is the search for your next bride coming along?" Amelia asked, taking a seat in the chair across from him.

Wyatt exhaled loudly and buried his face back in his arms. "It's coming, but slowly," he mumbled into his sleeve.

"Have you found anyone that interests you yet?"

The prince shook his head. "I've only briefly sifted through a couple of piles and none have really stuck out."

The Queen chuckled and rose from her chair to grab the brandy-filled decanter on the table near the window. She poured herself a glass and retook her seat. "That's because all the smart ones know better than to entangle themselves with you."

"You entangled yourself with me," Wyatt replied briskly, reminding Amelia of their past and her betrayal.

"And I was stupid for doing so," she retorted angrily, slamming the crystal glass firmly down on the desk. A small bit of liquid splashed over the rim and onto the wood. "You don't need to tell me."

Wyatt sighed and leaned back in his chair. He looked over at Amelia and noticed her annoyed expression. She had changed a lot since he'd first met her all those years ago. As a child she'd been impulsive and stubborn, unrelenting in almost everything. He and his brother had often joked that she didn't have a single ladylike bone in her body. She held a noble title but preferred to wrestle instead of wearing dresses. Yet as he stared at her fifteen years later, he could tell her years in the palace had taken their toll on her. She was no longer as she as passionate as she used to be, just spiteful and jealous.

"It's not like I wanted to do this," Wyatt confessed, grabbing her glass and taking a sip himself.

"But you still are."

"I know."

"Why? Sophia is your niece and the rightful heir," Amelia pressed, defending her daughter's position.

With every word that escaped Amelia's mouth, Wyatt cringed inwardly. He knew taking Sophia's place was wrong, but he couldn't ignore the fact that the country would come crumbling down if she was to become Queen. Aware of this, Wyatt gave Amelia a knowing look. "You already know why. Don't make me explain something we both know."

Amelia frowned. She opened her mouth to respond, but a knock at the door interrupted her.

Spinning around, she glared at the young maid standing in the doorway. She was holding a silver tray with a cream colored envelope on top. "What is it?" Amelia demanded, fuming for having been cut off.

The small girl was trembling so hard that the envelope almost slipped right over the edge of the tray. "Y…y…your Highness," she managed to choke out. "A letter for you requires an urgent reply."

Wyatt nodded and took the message. Using the letter opener in his desk drawer, he quickly slit the opening and pulled out the crisp white paper inside. Small letters scrawled in black ink filled the entire page, indicating the urgency that the letter was written in. Once finished, Wyatt instantly rose from his desk and dashed out the door.

"Sorry, but we'll have to finish our discussion later on," Wyatt said as he passed by Amelia. "Something has come up and I need to deal with it."

Turning her back to him, Amelia threw her right hand in the air. "Yeah, I know," she huffed, already used to Wyatt walking out on her. "Duty calls." Snatching the glass back from Wyatt's side of the desk, she tossed it back and gulped down any alcohol that was remaining. It burned her throat, but she enjoyed the slight bit of physical pain. It balanced out the emotional hurt Wyatt was causing her. For whatever reason, the two never seemed to meet or agree with each other when they needed to most.

With the maid and her brother-in-law gone, Amelia sat alone in Wyatt's office. It was dark, but she didn't mind. She had many fond memories of her, her husband, and Wyatt playing hide-and-seek during the middle of the night as children. So even now she felt comfortable. She reveled in the moonlight, basking in its pale glow.

Setting the glass back on the desktop, Amelia eyed the stacks of paper piled high on Wyatt's desk. Smiling to herself, she could guess they were the applications for his Selection. Knowing Wyatt, she knew he would never leave important stately matters unattended to. Yet here were mountains of papers towering a couple of feet high, looking completely untouched, as if he'd deliberately put off reading them.

Curious as ever, Amelia pulled a profile off the top of one stack and shamelessly examined the applicant. The girl in the application was a three, tall, accomplished in singing, and had hair so shiny Amelia could only assume she'd go blind if she ever looked at her again. Shaking her head, she tossed the girl into the garbage and moved on to the next. Grinning devilishly, she took one look at the next girl and placed her into a separate pile to keep. As she continued going through the stack, she slowly added more and more girls to her 'keep' pile. If Wyatt wanted to get married and kick Sophia off the throne, he'd have to go through her first. And, since he'd left her such a wonderful opportunity, it was only right for her to take full advantage of it. She was going to ensure that he would regret even considering ascending the throne.

* * *

Thank you guys so much for your support, reviews, and participation in this story! I have received tons of awesome submissions and am still looking for more. I have already filled up two of the spots but will leave the rest open for any late submitters who have awesome characters. I'm only taking 5, so I thought I should at least save a couple of spots and not be too impulsive when choosing even though I'm dying to start this story. If I don't get any that I like, I will use three that I am considering but am holding off for my reason stated above.

I'm not sure if I want to keep the chapters this short or not. I also probably won't post every single day, but maybe every 2 or 3 days instead. I work full time so it can be a bit challenging to pump out chapters so frequently. I will definitely post on the weekends though, so always expect a chapter at least once a week. If I decided to keep the chapters this short, I can for sure update probably 3 times a week. Otherwise I will write longer chapters but post only once or twice. I'm not making any promises though since I never know what life will throw at me. Anyway, please let me know in a review which you would prefer.

So without further ado, here are the Selected so far!

1\. Sage Hayden Everett

2\. Kapri Margaret Linette

One character I'm considering:

1\. Aria Stella Montgomery - I absolutely love her, but I'm not going to beat around the bush. She has a lot of stuff going on in her personality and I don't know if I'd be able to keep it all straight. The details you provided were fantastic, it's just that I don't think I'm a strong enough writer yet to develop her properly as a character. I'm still keeping her under consideration because I really like her and appreciate the great effort you put into making her, but I'm just giving you a heads up about my hesitations when it comes to choosing her. You're awesome at creating characters, so if you want to submit another OC, I would love to see her as well.


	3. Chapter 3

\- Chapter 2 -

Wyatt arrived back at the palace to the sound of Sophia's playful screeching and to the scent of freshly baked pies. For a second he thought that he was someone else, smelling the scent of a home-cooked meal wafting through the air, and that every problem he'd encountered last night was simply a passing nightmare. But Wyatt knew his life was nothing of the sort, and that he'd only be playing the fool if he continued on dreaming. Still in a work mindset, the prince drifted into his office to continue whatever business he'd had before breaking for a quick lunch. But no matter how hard he tried, no trade deals or peace treaties could take his mind off his Selection.

Wyatt was at a loss for words. His shock was so strong that he couldn't even bring himself to talk about it – no, not even if he had been pushed off a cliff. Surprised was an understatement. When he'd woken up to a finalized list of candidates for his Selection being broadcast nationwide, Wyatt couldn't believe what he was hearing. He struggled to wrap his head around it, especially since he knew he'd only seen a few hundred applications at the least. There were thousands in those piles. Of course it wasn't hard for him to figure out who was responsible. Only he and one other person had authorization to release an official royal document concerning his private affairs to the news stations, and Wyatt knew it hadn't been him.

Burying his head in his hands, Wyatt exhaled loudly. He needed to think. How was he going to get himself out of this mess now? Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to think as he was called away again upon hearing news of his guests' arrival.

"America," he said, strolling into the front foyer. Standing in the center of the entry way were three figures. Their long coats, matted to their skin like wet fur, were saturated with water. He guessed they had gotten caught in the thunderstorm that had rolled through ten minutes ago.

"Wyatt," she said, handing her coat to one of the butlers on stand by. "Thank you for taking us in on such short notice. We didn't know where else to go after last night's incident." Wyatt nodded and urged her to make herself at home. They'd been through a lot the night before, so the least he could do was make them comfortable.

Despite the previous night's events, America seemed unaffected. Still, Wyatt could clearly see her children had been shaken. Like two koala bears gripping onto eucalyptus trees, twins Eadlyn and Ahren had their arms wrapped around their mother's legs. They looked frightened, but Wyatt wasn't sure if it was from the attempt made on their lives, or more so from being taken from their homes and thrust into some foreign country.

"It's fine," Wyatt assured her, leading the trio into one of the sitting rooms in the palace. It was warmer in there and a lot cozier than the intricately carved stone foyer. Inside, a fire thrashed wildly in the fireplace centered in the back wall, projecting dancing shadows around the room. Even so, the children remained guarded, refusing to let go of their mother. It was only until Wyatt proposed they roast marshmallows did they unlatch themselves from America and plop themselves down in front of the fireplace. Meanwhile, Wyatt and America took their seats in two of the wooden chairs with red velvet cushions that faced the children.

"So, did you figure out who is targeting you?" Wyatt asked America, taking a sip of coffee. He'd had drinks brought over immediately, along with marshmallows and roasting sticks for the kids.

America shook her head. "The palace is a really safe place, but we just couldn't stay there after the breach last night. Maxon didn't want to risk us staying there while investigations were under way, especially not in my condition," she said, resting her hands on the curve of her very pregnant stomach.

"I can see why he was worried," Wyatt said, glancing at Illea's queen. America seemed fairly along in her pregnancy and wasn't going to hedge the lives of her children by staying in a palace that'd already been broken into. "Do you know how the rebels got in?"

It was well known that Illea was still struggling with rebels. They'd eradicated the majority of them over the past few years but several strongholds remained. The survivors were trained, smart, well equipped, and well funded. They were strong and united, something Maxon's people were struggling with amidst the elimination of the caste system.

"Not yet," America admitted. Maxon hadn't had the chance to share much with his wife that night. He'd quickly made a few phone calls and arranged to have his family smuggled secretly out of the country. "I'm sure Maxon will contact me when something important comes up."

She took a sip of water and eyed her two children as they roasted the sugary treats. She didn't want to call them little pyromaniacs, but she couldn't help but notice how much fun they were having with the fire. It made her smile when their eyes widened in amazement at seeing the white marshmallows catch on fire and then slowly melt off the stick. The squealed in delight when one fell into the fire and produced a loud cracking noise.

"Well, you're welcome to stay as long as you need to," Wyatt told her.

America thanked him but assured him that they would leave as soon as possible. She didn't want them to over stay their welcome. Wyatt waved away her modesty.

"We wouldn't want to get in your way," America said. "Especially since your Selection is about to start. Having three children running about will no doubt cause a bit of chaos."

Wyatt couldn't help but laugh at America. "Trust me, I welcome that kind of trouble any day." Placing his coffee cup back on the table, Wyatt turned to face the fire. "It's not the children I need to worry about, it's the adults."

* * *

Hey guys! Once again I'd like to thank you all for your lovely reviews and support. I'm glad that so many of you have taken an interest in my story and are willing to participate. Now I know that chapter was a little short, but it's a bit difficult to move the story along without being able to start the Selection. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and will leave me your thoughts in a review. I brought in America and the twins as I've planned a few story lines that involve them. So they'll be around for a bit. Of course the story will focus mainly on Wyatt and your characters, but I do have some small plots that are going to run alongside the main story.

So after a day full of reading great character profiles, I have officially closed the submissions to this story. I had a really hard time deciding between characters because many of them had similar personalities and I wanted a diverse cast. So if your OC was not chosen, do understand that it was not because they were uninteresting or bad, but simply because the spot was already filled by another similar character. There are a lot of SYOC stories running in this fandom right now, so I'm sure your OC will get accepted somewhere. I wish you all the best and maybe one of my characters could be facing off against one of yours in someone else's fic!

So without further ado, here are the Selected!

1\. Kapri Margaret Linette

2\. Sage Hayden Everett

3\. Kathrine Merrick

4\. Athena Corrine Galloway

5\. Kimberly Saffron Tinsley

6\. Ivy Marie Matriet


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